what happened. regardless of where the facts lead us to make sure that folks are held accountable and it doesn't happen again. and, number three, we are going to find out who did this and we are going to hunt them down because one of the things that i've said throughout my presidency is, when folks mess with americans, we go after

i said i'd end the war in iraq, and i did. i said we'd focus attention on those who attacked us on 9/11. and we've gone after al qaeda's leadership like never before. and osama bin laden is dead. i said we would put in place health care reform to make sure insurance companies can't jerk you around and if you don't have health insurance, would you have a chance to get affordable to greet the coffins when they come home, you know that i mean what i say. >> mr. president, i have to mef us along. governor. >> thank you, kerry, thank you for your question. it's an important one. i think the president is right when he says that the buck stops at his desk and he takes responsibility for providing the security resources and terrible things may happen from time to time. i feel deeply sympathetic for the families for those who lost loved ones, and today is a

membranorial service for one of the family members who was lost today. we think of them and care for them. there were many days that passed before we knew if there was a terrorist attack or a ghon demonstration. there was no demonstration. it was a terrorist attack and it took a long time for that to be told to the american people. why didn't we know five days later when the ambassador to the united nations went on tv to say this was a demonstration, how could we have not known? i find more troubling than this, the day following the assassination of a united states ambassador, first time that's happened since 1979, when we have four americans killed there, when apparently we didn't know what happened, the president -- the day after that happened, flies to las vegas for a political fund-raiser, and the

next day to colorado for another event. another political event. i think these -- these actions taken by a president and a leader have symbolic significance. and perhaps even material significance in that you hope during that time we could call in the people who were actually eyewitnesss, we've read accounts about what happened. it was very clear. this was not a demonstration. this was an attack by terrorists. and this calls into question the president's whole policy in the middle east. what's happening in syria egypt, now libya. consider the distance between ourselves and israel. the president said he would put daylight between discuss israel. we have iran, four years closer to a nuclear bomb. syria is not just the tragedy of 30,000 civilians being killed by a military, but also a strategy ic strategically significant player for america. the president's policies throughout the middle east began with an apology tour and pursue

a strategy of leading from behind and this strategy is unraveling before our very eyes. >> because we're closing, i want to get a lot of people in. i want to ask you something, and i want to very quickly, your secretary of state says she takes full responsibility for the attack on the diplomatic mission in benghazi. does the buck stop with your secretary of state as far as what goes on here? >> secretary clinton has done an extraordinary job, but she works for me. i'm the president, and i'm always responsible. no one is more interested in finding out exactly what happened than i did. the day after the attack, governor, i stood in the rose garden and told the american people and the world that we were going to find out exactly what happened. that this was an act of terror. and i also said that we're going to hunt down those who committed this crime.

and a few days later, i was there greeting the caskets coming into andrews air force base and grieving with the families. and the suggestion that anybody on my team, whether it's secretary of state, our u.n. ambassador, anybody on my team, would play politics or mislead when we've lost four of our own, governor, is offensive. that's not what we do. that's not what i do as president, not what i do as commander in chief. >> governor, if you want to rely. >> i think it's interesting the president said something, which is on the day after the attack he went in the rose garden and said this was an act of terror. you said in the rose garden the day after the attack, it was an act of terror? it was not a spontaneous

demonstration, is that what you are saying? >> please proceed, governor. >> i want to make sure we get that for the record. it took the president 14 days before he called it an act of terror. >> get the transcript. >> he did, in fact, call it an act of terror. >> could you say that a little louder, candy? >> he did call it an act of terror. it did as well take two weeks or so for the whole idea of there being a riot out there about this tape to come out, you're correct about that. >> the administration. the administration indicated this was a reaction to a video and was a spontaneous reaction. it took them a long time to say this was a terrorist act by a terrorist group. and to suggest -- am i incorrect in that regard, on >> candy. >> excuse me. the ambassador went on and said this was a spontaneous. >> i'm happy to have a longer conversation.

>> i would like to move you along. >> i'm happy to do that too. >> i want to make sure all of these wonderful folks will have a chance to have their questions answered. while a body in motin tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. celebrex can be taken with or without food. and it's not a narcotic. you and your doctor should balance the benefits with the risks. all prescription nsaids, like celebrex, ibuprofen, naproxen, and meloxicam have the same cardiovascular warning. they all may increase the chance of heart attack or stroke, which can lead to death.

this chance increases if you have heart disease or risk factors such as high blood pressure or when nsaids are taken for long periods. nsaids, including celebrex, increase the chance of serious skin or allergic reactions or stomach and intestine problems, such as bleeding and ulcers, which can occur without warning and may cause death. patients also taking aspirin and the elderly are at increased risk for stomach bleeding and ulcers. do not take celebrex if you've had an asthma attack, hives, or other allergies to aspirin, nsaids or sulfonamides. get help right away if you have swelling of the face or throat, or trouble breathing. tell your doctor your medical history and find an arthritis treatment for you. visit celebrex.com and ask your doctor about celebrex. for a body in motion.

>> president, stand there a moment. nina gonzalez brought up a question we hear a lot both over the internet and from this crowd. >> president obama, during the democratic national convention 2008, you stated you wanted to keep ak-47s out of the hans of criminals. what has your administration done or plan to do to limit the availability of assault weapons? >> we're a nation that believes in the second amendment, and i believe in the second amendment, we've gotten a long tradition of hunting and sportsmen and people who want to make sure they can

protect themselves. but there are too many instances during the course of my presidency where i've had to comfort families who have lost somebody. most recently out in aurora. just a couple of weeks ago, actually, probably about a month, i saw a mother who i had met at the bedside of her son, who had been shot in that theater and her son had been shot in the head. and we spent some time, and we said a prayer and remarkably, about two months later, in young man and his mom showed up, and he looked unbelievable. good as new. but there were a lot of families who didn't have that good fortune and whose sons or daughters or husbands didn't survive. so my belief is that, a, we have to enforce the laws we've

already got. keep the hands guns out of hands of criminals. those who are mentally ill. we have a lot more to do when it comes to enforcement. share your belief that weapons who were designed for soldiers in war theaters don't belong on our streets. so what i'm trying to do is get a broader conversation about how do we reduce the violence generally. part of it is seeing if we can get get an assault weapons ban reintroduced. but also i want to look at other forms of violence. they aren't using ak-47s in chicago, my hometown, they are using handguns. i want to make sure young people have opportunities, that our schools are working. that if there is violence on the streets, working with faith groups and law enforcement, we

can catch it before it gets out of control. what i want is a comprehensive strategy, part of it is seeing if we can get automatic weapons that kill folks in amazing numbers out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill. i want want to get into the community and catch violent impulses before they occur. >> governor romney, the question about assault weapons. >> i'm not in favor of new pieces of legislation on guns or taking guns away or making certain guns illegal. we, of course, don't want automatic weapons which is already illegal in this country. what i believe we have to do as the president mentioned toward the end of remarks, to make enormous efforts to enforce the gun laws we have and change the culture of violence we have we ask how are we going to do that. he mentioned good schools. i totally agree.

we drove the schools to be number one in the nation in my state. i believe we give people the hope and opportunity they deserve and perhaps less violence from that. but let me mention another thing. that's parents. we need moms and dads helping to raise kids, and the benefit of two parents in the home, that's not always possible. a lot of great single moms, single dads, but to tell our kids that before they have babies they ought to think about getting married, that's a great idea. the prospect of living in poverty goes down dramatically. the opportunities for the child increase dramatically. we can make changes in the ways our culture works to bring people away from violence and bring them into the american system. the greatest failure we've had with regards to run violence is what is known as fast and furious. a program under this administration and how it worked

exactly, i think we don't know precisely. but we're thousands of automatic and ak-47 type weapons were given to people that ultimately gave them to drug lords, they used those weapons against their own citizens and killed americans with them. this was a program for the government. for what purpose, i can't imagine. but it's one of the great tragedies related to violence in our society, which occurred during this administration, which the american people would like to understand fully. it's been investigated to a degree, but the administration has carried out executive privilege to prevent all of the information from coming out. i want to understand what led to this. thousands of guns going to mexican drug lords. >> governor, if i could, the question was about assault weapons that were once banned and are no longer banned. i know you signed an assault

weapons ban when you were in massachusetts, obviously for this question, you no longer do that. why is that, given the violence we see sometimes with these mass killings? why is it that you have changed your mind? >> candy, in my state, the pro gun folks and anti-gun folks came together and put together a piece of legislation and it's referred to as an assault weapon ban, but at the signing of the bill, both the pro-gun and the antihif gun anti anti-gun people came together. there were hunting opportunities that became available and so forth, it was mutually agreed upon. that's what we need more of, candy. what we have in washington is gridlock. >> if you could get people to agree to it, you would be for it. >> we haven't had the leadership in washington to work on a bipartisan basis. i was able to do that in my state and bring these two together. >> first of all, i think

governor romney was for an assault weapons ban before he was against it. and he said the reason he changed his mind was in pa because he was seeking the endorsement of the national rifle association. so that's on the record. i think one area we agree on is the important of parents and the importance of schools. i believe if our young people have opportunity, they are less likely to engage in these kinds of violent acts. we won't eliminate everybody who is mentally disturbed and we have to make sure they don't get weapons. we can ensure that every young person in america, regardless of where they come from, what they look like, have a chance to succeed. candy, we haven't had a chance to talk about education much, but it's very important to understand that the reforms we put in place, working with governors around the country are

seeing schools that are some of the ones that are some of the toughest for kids. starting to succeed, starting to see gains in math and science. when it comes to community colleges, we are setting up program z programs, including with nassau community college to restrain young workers, including those who dropped out of school, are getting another chance. training for jobs that exist right now. and employers are looking for skilled workers and we're matching them up. access to higher education. as i said, we made sure millions of young people are able to get an education they weren't able to go before. >> mr. president, i need to move you along. >> one second this is important. this is part of the choice in this election and when governor romney was asked, whether hiring more teachers was important to growing our economy, governor romney said it doesn't grow our economy.

>> the question is, mr. president, with guns here, so i need to move us along. the question was guns. >> i understand. but this will make a difference in terms of whether we can move the economy forward for young people and reduce our violence. >> thank you so much. [ man ] in hong kong, on my way to the board meeting... anne's tablet called my phone. anne's tablet was chatting with a tablet in sydney... a desktop in zurich... and a telepresence room in brazil. the secure cloud helped us get some numbers from my assistant's pc in new york. and before i reached the top, the board meeting became a congrats we sold the company party. wait til my wife's phone hears about this. [ cellphone vibrating ] [ female announcer ] with cisco at the center, working together has never worked so well.

on gasoline. i am probably going to the gas station about once a month. last time i was at a gas station was about...i would say... two months ago. i very rarely put gas in my chevy volt. i go to the gas station such a small amount that i forget how to put gas in my car. [ male announcer ] and it's not just these owners giving the volt high praise. volt received the j.d. power and associates appeal award two years in a row. ♪ a short word that's a tall order. up your game. up the ante. and if you stumble, you get back up. up isn't easy, and we ought to know. we're in the business of up.

everyday delta flies a quarter of million people while investing billions improving everything from booking to baggage claim. we're raising the bar on flying and tomorrow we will up it yet again.

>> thank you so much. i want to ask carole goldberg to stand up. and this question is for governor romney. >> the outsourcing of american jobs overseas has taken a toll on our economy. what plans do you have to put back and keep jobs here in the united states? >> great question. an important question. because you're absolutely right. the place we've seen manufacturing go is china it's now number one. it used to be the united states. a half a million manufacturing jobs have been lost total over the last four years. one of the reasons for that is people think it's more attractive in some cases to go

offshore than to stay here. we have made it less attractive for enterprises to stay here than go offshore from time to time. what i had do as president is make sure it's more attractive to come to america again. this is the way we're going to create jobs in this country. not by trickle down government. we are going to hire more government workers, raise more taxes, put in place more regulations. trickle down government has never worked here,er in worked anywhere. i want to make america the most attractive place in the world for entrepreneurs, small business, big business, to invest and grow in america. now, we have to make sure as we trade with other nations that they play by the rules and china hasn't. one of the ways is by artificially holding down the value of their currency. they put the currency down low, that means prices on goods are low. that makes them advantageous in the marketplace. we lose sales and manufacturers

in the u.s. making the same products can't compete. china say currency manipulator for years and years and years. and the president has a regular opportunity to label them as a currency manipulator, but refuses to do so. day one, i'll label china a currency manipulator. which allows me as president to put in place tariffs where i believe they are taking unfair advantage of our manufacturers. so we'll make sure people we trade with around the world play by the rules. let me not just stop there. don't forget what's key to bringing back jobs here, not just finding someone else to punish, and i'm going to be strict with people who we trade with to make sure they follow the law, play by the rules, but to make america the most attractive place in the world for businesses of all kinds and bring on the tax rates on small employers, big employers, so

they want to be here, canada's tax rate and company' is now 15%. ours is 35%. if you were starting a business, where would you rather start it? we have to be competitive. the rate of regulations quadrupled under this president. i talked to small businesses across the country and they say we feel like we're under atrack from our own government. i want to make sure regulators see their job as encouraging small businesses, not crushing it. no question, but obama care has been an extraordinary deterrent to businesses of all sizes for hiring people. if we had more people hired, get back manufacturing jobs, if we get back all kind of jobs into this country, you'll see rising incomes again. the reason incomes are down is because unemployment is so high. i know what it takes to get this to happen and my plan will do that, and one part of the is to

make sure we keep china playing by the rules. >> mr. president, two minutes. and then we'll move on to the last question. >> we need to create jobs. and both governor romney and i agree we should lower our tax rate. it's too high. there is a difference on how we would do it. i want to close loopholes that allow companies to duct expenses when they move to china, that allow them to profit offshore. and not have to get taxed so they have tax advantages offshore. all of those changes would make a difference. governor romney wants to expand those tax breaks. one of his big ideas when it comes to corporate tax reform would be to say if you invest overseas, you make profits overseas, you don't have to pay u.s. taxes. of course, if you are a small business, mom and pop business, or a big business, you have to

pay a reduced rate even that governor romney is talking about, and it's estimated that will create 800 million new jobs. problem is, they'll be in china, or india, or germany. that's not the way we'll create jobs here. the way we'll create jobs here, not just create our jobs, but double our exports. we are on pace to double our exports. creating tens of thousands of jobs across the country. that's why we kept on pushing trade deals, but trade deals that make sure american workers and american businesses are getting a good deal. governor romney talked about china. as i already indicated, in the private sector, governor romney invested in phi nears of outsourcing. not my phrase, what reporters call it. and as far as currency manipulation, the currency has

actually gone up 11% since i've been president, because we have pushed them hard. put unprecedented trade pressure on china, and that will help create jobs here. [ ross ] in the taihang mountains of china, hand-carved on the side of a cliff is the guoliang tunnel. what?! you've got to be kidding me. [ derek ] i've never seen a road like this. there's jagged rock all the way around. this is really gonna test the ats on all levels. [ derek ] this road is the most uneven surface, and it gets very narrow. magnetic ride control is going to be working hard. the shock absorbers react to the road 1,000 times a second. it keeps you firmly in control. whoa! [ male announcer ] the all-new cadillac ats.

at meineke i have options... like oil changes starting at $19.95. my money. my choice. my meineke.

>> mr. president, a really short time for a quick discussion here. ipad, the macs, iphones, all manufactured in china, and one of the reasons is, labor is so much cheaper here. how do you convince a great american company to bring that manufacturing back here? >> the answer is very straight forward, we can compete with anyone in the world as long as the playing field is level. china's been cheating over the years, won by holding down the value of their currency. two, by stealing our international property, designs, tech designs, technology. there is a counterfeit apple store, in china, selling

counterfeit apple goods. we need to make america an attractive place. >> how much time, candy? >> the president's plan is completely false. >> let me go to the president. we're really running out of time. the question is, we can't get wages like that. it can't be sustained. >> candy, some jobs are not going to come back. low wage, low skilled jobs. i want high wage, high skilled jobs. that's why we have to emphasize manufacturing, investment in advanced manufacturing. when we talk about deficits, if we're adding to our deficit for tax cuts for folks who don't need them and we're cutting investments in research and science that will create the next apple, create the next new innovation that will sell

products around the world, we'll lose that race. if we're not training engineers to make sure they are equipped here in the country, then companies won't come here, those investments are what will help to make sure that we continue to lead this world economy, not just this year, but 50 years from now, 100 years from now. >> government doesn't create job. >> governor, i want to introduce to you barry green, he's going to have the last question to you first. >> i think this is a tough question. each of you what do you believe is the biggest misperception that the american people have about you as a man and a candidate? using specific examples, can you take this opportunity to debunk that misperception and set us straight. >> thank you. that's an opportunity for me,

and i appreciate it. in the nature of a campaign, it seems some campaigns are focused on attacking a person. in the course of that, the president's campaign tried to characterize me as someone that is very different than who i am. i care about 100% of the american people. i want 100% of the american people to have a bright and prosperous future. i care about our kids. i understand what it takes to make a bright and prosperous future again for america. i my life in private sector, not in government. i want to help with the experience i have the american people. my passion probably flows from the fact that i believe in god and i believe we're all children of the same god. i believe we have a responsibility to care for one another. i served as a missionary for my church. serbed as a pastor in my congregation for about ten years. i've sat across the table from people who were out of work and

worked with them to find new work or help them through tough times. i went to the olympics when they were in trouble and try to get them on track, and as governor of my state, i was able to get 100% of my insured. all of my kids, and about 98% of adults. i understand we don't have to settle for what we're going through, gasoline at 4 bucks. don't have to settle for unemployment at a chronically high level. we don't have to settle for 47 million people on food stamps. 57% of kids coming out of college, not able to get work. we don't have to settle for 23 million people looking for a good job. i'll get america working again, on track to the balanced budget. the president hasn't, i will. i'll make sure we can get our incomes up.

and i have done these things. i served as governor and have showed i can get them done. >> last two minutes belong to you, mr. president. >> barry, i think a lot of this campaign and it's been devoted to this notion that i think government creates jobs. that's somehow the answer. that's not what i believe. i believe the free enterprise system is the greatest engine of prosperity the world has ever known, and i believe in self-reliance and individual initiative and risktakers being rewarded. and i believe everybody should have a fair shot, and everybody should do their fair share and play by the same rules. that's how our economy is growing. how we built the world's greatest middle class.

and that is part of what's at stake in this election. a fundamentally different vision of how we move our country forward. i believe governor romney is a good man. loves his family, cares about his faith. but i also believe when he said behind closed doors that 47% of the country considered themselves victims? who refused personal responsibility? think about who he was talking about. folks on social security who have worked all their lives. veterans, who sacrificed for this country. students who are out there trying to hopefully advance their own dreams, but also this country's dreams. soldiers who are overseas, fighting for us right now. people who are working hard every day, paying payroll taxes, gas taxes, but don't make enough income. i want to fight for them. that's what i have been doing the last four years.

because if they succeed, i believe that the country succeeds. when my grandfather fought in world war ii, came back, got a gi bill, that wasn't a hahnout, that was something that advanced the entire country. and i want to make sure that the next generation has those same opportunities, and that's why i'm asking for your vote and another four years. >> president obama, governor romney, thank you for being here tonight. we have come to aen of the town hall debate. we want to thank the people of hofstra university. the next and final debate, monday night in boca raton, florida. don't forget to watch. election day three weeks from today. don't forget to vote. good night.

when you take a closer look... ...at the best schools in the world... ...you see they all have something very interesting in common. they have teachers... ...with a deeper knowledge of their subjects. as a result, their students achieve at a higher level. let's develop more stars in education. let's invest in our teachers... ...so they can inspire our students. let's solve this.

we know you. we know you have to rise early... and work late, with not enough sleep in between. how you sometimes need to get over to that exit,

like, right now. and how things aren't... just about you anymore. introducing the all-new, smart-sensing... honda accord. it starts with you.

minutes to respond to a common question. and there will be a two-minute follow-up. the audience has been asked to refrain from clapping or booing. and here are the candidates tonight, the president and governor mitt romney. [ applause ]

>> gentlemen, thank you both for joining us here tonight. we have a lot of people that have been waiting all day to talk to you, so i want to get right too. governor romney, you won the coin toss so the first question will come to you. i want to turn to a first-time voter, mr. jeremy epstein. >> as a 20-year-old college student all i hear from professors neighbors and others, that when i graduate, i will not be able to get employment. >> thank you, jeremy, i appreciate your question and

thank you for being here this evening. thank you for your time. thank you to hofstra university and to candy crowley for organizing and leading this event. thank you mr. president for also being part of this debate. your question is one that's being asked by college kids all across the country, as in pennsylvania with someone who just graduated. and she said i have gotten my degree and i have not gotten a job. i can't begin to pay back my student loans. we have to makes it easier for kids to afford college and also make sure that when they get out of college, there's a job. when i was governor of massachusetts, to get a high school degree you had to pass an exam, if you graduated in the top quarter of your class, we gave you a scholarship to a four-year degree. i want to make sure we keep our

pell grant program growing, and also our loan program so people are able to afford school. but the key thing is to make sure you can get a job when you get out of school. it's been very, very hard for america's young people. i want you have to a job. i know what it takes to get going. to graduate without a job, without a college level job, that's just unacceptable. and you've got more and more debt on your back. so more jobs and les debt. i know what it takes to create good jobs and to make sure you have the opportunity you deserve. and kids across the country are going to recognize, we're bringing back an economy. the middle class has been crushed over the last four years and jobs have been too scarce. i know what it takes to bring it back. when do you graduate? >> 2014. >> when you come out in 2014, i

presume i'm going to be president, i'm going to make sure you get a job. thanks, jeremy. >> mr. president? >> jeremy the fact that you're making an investment in higher education, is critical. not just to you but to the entire nation. the most important thing that we can do is to make sure that we're creating jobs in this country, not just jobs, but good paying jobs, ones that can support a family. i want to focus on the 30 million jobs that we created in the private sector alone. and there's a bunch of things we can do to make sure your future is bright. number one, i want to build manufacturing jobs in this country again. when governor romney said we should let detroit go bankrupt, i said we're going to support the auto industries and bring it back. not only in detroit, but all across the country, we want to give tax breaks to companies

that are creating jobs here. it also means that we're helping them to export all around the world to new markets. and we have to make sure that we have the best education in the world. we have worked hard to make sure that student loans are available for folks like you, but i also want to make sure that community colleges are offering slots for workers to get retrained for the jobs that are out there right now and the jobs of the future. number three, we have got to control our own energy, not only oil and natural gas, which we have been investing in, but we also have to think about the future. 20 years from now, and 30 years from now that,'s why we have invested in solar, wind and biofuels. ask the wealthy to pay a little bit more along with the cuts so we can invest in an education

like yours and let's take the money we have been spending in the last decade to rebuild america. if we do that, not only is your future going to be bright, but for every american. >> what can you do, we're looking at a situation where 40% of the unemploitded have been unemployed for six months or more. what about those long-term unemployed who need a job right now. >> you're seeing 22 million people who are struggling to find a job. and they have been out of work for a long, long, long time. the president's policies have been emphasized for the past four years. we have fewer people working today than we had when the president took office. the unemployment rate was 7.8% when he took office, 7.8% are

unemployed now, if you put back in there the people who have given up looking for a job. we need a five-point plan that gets americans 12 million new jobs in four years and rising take home pay. it's going to help jeremy get a job when he gets out of school and it's going to help people across the country who are unemployed right now. one thing the president said that i said we should take detroit bankrupt. i thought we should have the company go through bankruptcy si like 7-eleven did and other countries. the president took general motors bankrupt. so when you say that i wanted to take the auto industry bankrupt. you actually did and i think it's important to know that that

was a process that was necessary to get those companies back on their feet so they could start hiring more people. that was precisely what i recommended and ultimately what happened. >> let me give the president a chance, go ahead. >> candy, what governor romney said just isn't true. he wanted to make them into bankruptcy without providing them any way to stay open. and we would have lost a million jobs. and don't take my word for it, take the executives at gm and chrysler, some of whom were republicans, may even support governor romney. but i can tell you his prescription wasn't going to work. governor romney says he has a five-point plan, he doesn't have a five-point plan, he has a one-point plan and that is to make sure that folks at the top play by a different set of rules, that's been his philosophy in the private sector, that's been his philosophy as a governor, and that's been his philosophy as a presidential candidate. you can ship jobs overseas and

get tax breaks for it. you can invest in a company, lay off workers and strip away their pensions and you still make money. that's exactly the philosophy that we have seen in place for the last decade. that's what's been squeezing middle class families. and we have fought back for four years to get out of that mess, the last thing we need to do is to go back to the very same policies that got us there. >> mr. president, the next question is going to be for you here. governor romney, there will be a lot of chances for you to [ ross ] the streets of monaco,

home of the legendary grand prix circuit. the perfect place to bring the all-new cadillac ats to test the 2.0-liter turbo engine. [ engine revs ] ♪ [ derek ] 272 horsepower. the lightest in its class. the cadillac ats outmatches the bmw 3 series. i cannot believe i have ended the day not scraping some red paint off on these barriers. ♪ [ male announcer ] the all-new cadillac ats.

i'm going to move on to something that's sort of connected to cars here. and we wanted to get a question from bill trucola.

>> your energy secretary as now been on record three times stating it's not policy of his department to help lower gas prices. do you agree with the secretary that this is not the job of the energy department? >> the most important thing we can do is to make sure we control our own energy. so here's what i have done since i have been president. we have increased oil production to the highest levels in 16 years. natural gas production is the highest it's been in decades. we have seen increases in coal production. and coal employment. but what i have also said is we can't just produce traditional sources of energy, we have also got to look to the future. that's why we doubled fuel efficiency standards on cars, that means that in the middle of the next decades any car you buy, you're going to end up going twice as far on a gallon of gas. that's why we have invested in

wind and solar and biofuels. and all this has contributed to us lowering our oil levels -- we continue to open up new areas for drilling. we continue to make it a priority for to us go after natural gas, we have got potentially 600,000 jobs and 100 years worth of energy right beneath our feet with natural gas. we can do it in an environmentally sound way. but we've also got to continue how we have efficient energy because that's how we're going to reduce demand a that's what's going to keep gas prices lower. governor romney says he's got an all of the the above plan. but basically his plan is to let the oil companies write the energy policy. so he's got the oil and gas part. but he doesn't have the clean energy part.

and if we are only thinking about tomorrow or the next day and not thinking about ten years from now, we're not going to control our own economic future. because china, germany, they're making these investments and i'm not going to cede those jobs of the future to be -- it's going to help jeremy get a job and make sure that you're also lowering the price of gas. >> let's look at the president's policies as opposed to the rhetoric. because we have had four years of policies having played out and the president is right in terms of the additional oil production. but not on federal land. as a matter of fact oil production is down 10% and gas production is down 9%. why? because the president cut in half the number of licenses and permits on the drilling on federal lands. where did this increased oil come from?

a lot of it came from north dakota. there was a criminal action against the people drilling up there for oil, this massive new resource we have. and what did it cost? 20 or 25 birds were killed and they brought out the mightory bird act. i believe natural gas, wind, solar will be a part of our national mix. but what we don't need to the president taking advantage of oil, solar and gas. i was in coal try, people grabbed my arms and say, please, save my job. the head of the epa said you can't build a coal plant, it's virtually impossible given our regulations. when the president ran for office, he said if you build a

coal plant, you can go ahead but you'll go bankrupt. that's not the right course for america, let's take advantage of the energy resources we have as well as the energy sources for the future. if we do that, if we do what i'm planning on doing, which is getting us energy independent. north america energy independence within eight years, you're going to see manufacturing jobs come back because our energy is low cost. they're already beginning to come back because of our abundant energy. i'll get america and north america energy independent by doing more drilling, more permits and licenses, we're going bring that pipeline in from canada. how in the world the president said no to that pipeline i will never know. this is about bringing good jobs back for the middle class of america and that's what i intend to do. >> are we looking at the new normal, a lot of people will wake up and fill up and they will find that the price of gas is over $4 a gallon.